Pokemon: Master of tactics

Bastiodon was told by Alex about items he would be receiving for the next few days— hopefully reaching the Shallow Diamond rank.

For the first 10 days, he would receive 1 [Top-Rock Gem] in the morning and 1 [Top-Steel Gem] in the evening from Alex.

After that, he would be absorbing a [Steel-Scale] reinforced by an S-rank Skarmory on the Champion-level for the subsequent 5 days.

These 15 days are just the preparation period for Bastiodon to safely reach the Shallow Diamond rank with the following 5 items.

Alex would give Bastiodon the combination of the best items in the last 5 days.

For the first 3 days, the combo of [Steel-Scale], reinforced with Steel-Type Energy by an SS-rank Aggron on the Champion-level + [Top-Old Amber], will be given.

And for the last two days, [Tooth] of an SS-rank Bastiodon at Champion level reinforced with Rock and Steel-type energy + [Top-Old Amber] will be given.

Alex thought that Bastiodon had the best chance to improve his potential in the last 2 days..

The combination of these two items is the best item Alex has ever had. So he thought these items should be enough to improve potential, even though he could not say that with certainty.

Shallow Diamond is really not easy to achieve, so you can never proclaim a 100% guarantee.

But since Bastiodon was born with a Shallow Gold potential and has hardly consumed any items so far, Alex believed that Bastiodon would become a Shallow Diamond Pokémon, for sure, after these 20 days.

Alex stopped thinking about it. Then he, like every day, opened the Team Rocket Shop page, which is available only for higher members like Team Rocket Captain.

'Finally! I thought I would never find something for Shuppet.'

A corpse (ashes) of an SS-rank high-Elite Dusknoir: 12,500,000 TR Points/Pokédollars.

Although the price of this item was outrageously high, Alex immediately bought it.

Ghost-type Pokémon are rare, making the price of their corpses and items related to them outrageously costly.

It's almost twice as expensive as the corpses of an S-rank Champion-level Pokémon. Though the quality of both items are about the same.

Of course, this item is overpriced. And, if Alex was willing to wait a few months, he could certainly get a similar good corpse for 10,000,000 Pokédollars. But Alex didn't have time for it.

Shuppet would soon reach the level where he will transform into his final form, and Alex did not want to wait for an item anymore.

Alex was going to use Everstone as the last option if he couldn't find a high-quality item. But now that such a good item had appeared, that was no longer necessary.

Alex was also so rich that a few million doesn't mean much to him.

He wanted strength, not money. Of course, both have a close relationship with each other, but Alex never forgets what his priority is.

After Alex transferred a suitcase full of cash and received a message asking permission to send the item, he accepted.

Alex didn't wait and gave Shuppet the first-ever item to consume in his life.

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Pokémon: Shuppet

LV: 29

Type: Ghost

Abilities: Cursed Body (Hidden Ability)

Gender: Male

Potential: Deep Gold

Moves:

- Knock Off, Screech, Night Shade, Spite, Shadow Sneak, Will-O-Wisp, Feint Attack, Hex

- (Innate Talent) Curse, (Innate Talent) Phantom Force [E], (Innate Talent) Destiny Bond [E]

- (TM) Protect

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'Pokémon born with Gold potential instead of Shallow Gold really make it a lot easier,' thought Alex.

Alex remembers that Bastiodon didn't improve his potential as quickly as Shuppet or Vulpix.

Although Bastiodon was able to improve his potential with fewer items than Scizor, Gardevoir, and Crobat, he was a good deal slower than Vulpix or Shuppet.

He realized that the difference between a Born Gold Pokémon and a Born Shallow Gold Pokémon is much bigger than he had previously thought.

Alex looked in the direction of Gardevoir, Crobat, and Scizor with a slight concern.

Alex realized that he would need a lot more money and good items than he first thought if he wanted to get his first three Pokémon on the Shallow Diamond rank.

Alex looked at his Pokémon and said, "Ok, it's time to go back to the base."

Tomorrow, a small tournament will be held for the rookies he is responsible for, and he still had to choose rank for the top 10.

...

Alex, with his mask, entered the base and immediately went to his short-term office.

Alex looked at the reports he had from Andrew, who was responsible for the rookies while he was away on his trip.

'Andrew is really a good subordinate. It's a shame that he is a subordinate of Lisa,' thought Alex as he read the short and to-the-point informative reports sent by Andrew.

He wasn't really strong or talented, but he does his job quickly and thoroughly.

Such a competent person is very useful for organizational work or for commanding small groups.

Of course, Alex had two better subordinates, even if Maria is more like a partner than a subordinate.

Their current standing between them is similar to the biggest and the second-biggest shareholder in a company.

Although the biggest shareholder has the last word, it is not the case that the second-biggest shareholder is a subordinate of the biggest shareholder.

Alex, who looked through the reports, saw that he had received reports— from the person he hired— about the past of Simon, Jasper, and Elise.

He started reading through the report with a curious look.

Simon was the only one with a family. The report never officially identified a problem with his family, which surprised Alex a bit.

From the reporter— he watched Simon's family for a day and found nothing unusual.

Alex didn't know if this family is really as ordinary as it officially said or if Simon's family is hiding something.

Although he doesn't deny the possibility of Simon joining Team Rocket with a normal and good family, it is really unusual and unlikely.

But not extremely rare, so he cannot say with guarantee that this information is not correct.

Alex read the report from the next person and couldn't help but exclaim, "What the hell!!!"

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